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A review by makealongstorycourt
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
5.0
This book reminds me how much I love indigenous literature.
Familial ties, resilience, forced removal, ancestral bonds - there’s so much to be said here, so this is just a starting point for my thoughts.
Norma’s chapters were truly exquisite. I resonated so much with her character - an introvert desperately craving a family that is emotionally available. Constantly wondering “if only…” and how childhood or life would be different with that kind of atmosphere to be fostered in.
Joe’s chapters were heartbreaking. Another character created as a foil to Norma’s character, raised in the atmosphere of whiteness and privilege. Joe did the best he could with what he was given. When tragedy struck at the hands of a quasi-Indian adoption scenario, life for Joe and his family was derailed. Simultaneously, the white woman who took this indigenous child thinks that she’s doing God’s work.
But this book reminds us all that there’s nothing comparable to knowing who you are, where you come from, and being a part of all that your family is and has endured. Identity and family are strong forces for the human race, and Peter’s captures that message beautifully in her debut novel.
Familial ties, resilience, forced removal, ancestral bonds - there’s so much to be said here, so this is just a starting point for my thoughts.
Norma’s chapters were truly exquisite. I resonated so much with her character - an introvert desperately craving a family that is emotionally available. Constantly wondering “if only…” and how childhood or life would be different with that kind of atmosphere to be fostered in.
Joe’s chapters were heartbreaking. Another character created as a foil to Norma’s character, raised in the atmosphere of whiteness and privilege. Joe did the best he could with what he was given. When tragedy struck at the hands of a quasi-Indian adoption scenario, life for Joe and his family was derailed. Simultaneously, the white woman who took this indigenous child thinks that she’s doing God’s work.
But this book reminds us all that there’s nothing comparable to knowing who you are, where you come from, and being a part of all that your family is and has endured. Identity and family are strong forces for the human race, and Peter’s captures that message beautifully in her debut novel.